Lubavitch Junior Boys

Lubavitch Boys’ Primary School Clapton Common, Hackney, London E5 9AE

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Early years provision Requires improvement

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

p.1

This is an inadequate school

 The narrow curriculum offer does not meet statutory requirements. As a result, pupils are not fully prepared for the next stage of their education.  The basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics are not taught consistently well across the school.  The checks leaders make to evaluate the quality of teaching are not fully effective and do not sufficiently hold teachers to account for their performance.  Approaches to assessment are not fully embedded; this leads to inaccuracies in the assessment information held by the school.  Teachers are not consistent in their use of assessment information to meet the needs and interests of pupils, and also children in the early years.  Teachers do not demand enough of pupils regarding the pride taken in the presentation of work; nor do they reinforce positive attitudes to learning.  Not all teachers have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. Consequently, they do

p.1

This is an inadequate school

not achieve as well as they could, particularly the most-able pupils.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 Pupils say they feel safe in school and are happy.  Improvements have been made to the quality of reading in Key Stage 1.  Although provision in the early years requires improvement, the majority of children made expected progress in 2015.  Attendance is above average.  The vast majority of parents are supportive of the school and feel their children are well looked after.

p.1

Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management so that: – the school curriculum is fit for purpose and meets all statutory requirements, thus preparing pupils adequately for the next stage of their education – weak practice in teaching is eliminated and staff are held to account for their performance – the role of senior and middle leaders is strengthened, to enable them to play a key part in school improvement – the rate at which leaders embed procedures for assessment without levels is accelerated, in order that information held by the school can be used accurately to improve outcomes for all pupils.

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching further, by: – raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve and the progress they can make, particularly the most-able pupils – ensuring that the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics are taught consistently well, including in the early years, with a particular focus on improving writing – using assessment information effectively to set work for pupils that is suitably difficult and which helps them to learn well – planning work that pupils find interesting, so that they can develop subject specific skills and improve their attitudes to learning.

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 A further review of governance should be undertaken.

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

p.2

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Curriculum provision is inadequate. It does not meet the statutory requirements of the national curriculum. As a result, it does not provide equality of opportunity, nor prepare pupils for the opportunities and experiences of life in modern Britain.  Not enough time or emphasis is placed on ensuring that pupils are in receipt of a broad and balanced curriculum that enables them to study different subjects in sufficient depth to prepare them adequately for the next stage of their education.  Staff do not plan cohesively or creatively to deliver a curriculum which meets the demands of all subjects within the national curriculum, while successfully fulfilling the cultural expectations of Kodesh teaching.  The checks leaders make on the quality of teaching are inadequate. Weaknesses are not identified precisely enough and not followed up regularly to ensure that teachers know what to do to improve their practice.

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

This means the quality of teaching has not improved since the school was last inspected.  Performance management procedures are in place for teachers. However, targets cannot be evaluated accurately, nor used sufficiently well to hold teachers to account for their performance.  Leaders do not always insist on the highest expectations for pupils’ social behaviour. This leads to variable attitudes to learning in lessons and a lack of respect on the part of some pupils towards the wider school environment.  Sports funding has been used to purchase equipment and improve playground facilities, but it has not impacted positively on improving the provision of physical education (PE). Aside from a weekly swimming session, the inspector saw no evidence of any formal teaching of PE taking place in school. This was confirmed by discussion with pupils in both key stages 1 and 2. The pupils were all highly motivated when

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

talking about physical education activities and wanted more to happen.  Professional training is available for staff, but it is not comprehensive enough to secure better teaching and learning across the school.  The headteacher has not tackled low expectation and underperformance with sufficient rigour.  Subject leaders for mathematics and English are new to the roles and are working hard to improve provision. They want to contribute to school improvements and effect positive change, but are given limited time and guidance to evaluate their work with sufficient thoroughness.  The special educational needs coordinator is new to the role and, with the ongoing support of a consultant, has ensured school policy and procedure meet the requirements of the new ‘Code of Practice’. The advice of external agencies is now used effectively to support the early identification of additional needs and inform

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

intervention strategies.  The local authority has provided intensive support to the school and an improvement plan is in place. Priorities have been accurately identified, but have not been securely implemented by leaders in the school.  Pupils’ spiritual and moral development is delivered primarily through Kodesh teaching. Pupils’ wider social and cultural development is less well developed due to the narrow focus of the curriculum.  Fundamental British values are displayed across the school and links are made to the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic values and ideals. Pupils are proud of the elected school council who are beginning to contribute their ideas to school life. They were keen to inform the inspector of the new ‘kindness’ award they introduced, which is presented each week.  The school’s ethos is supportive. Staff care about the pupils in their charge and are welcoming to visitors and new arrivals. The headteacher is committed to nurturing in all pupils a desire to learn.

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

 Links with parents are effective, given the distances many pupils travel to get to school. A weekly newsletter allows parents to share their child’s class experiences. Parents are overwhelmingly happy with the school.  The school receives a nominal amount of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. It is used to support individual pupils and ensures that they achieve in line with their peers.  The governance of the school – An external review of governance was undertaken following the last inspection and an action plan prepared which itemised areas for improvement. – The local authority intervened to accelerate the pace of change and a subcommittee structure is now established to align the work of governors across the federation. – The subcommittee responsible for Lubavitch Boys’ Primary School has appointed new members who have galvanised efforts to address the priorities of the review. They have already addressed gaps within

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate

safeguarding arrangements to ensure that school systems meet statutory requirements. – Historically, the minutes of governing body meetings reflect an over-reliance on inaccurate information given to them by school leaders. Minutes suggest that governors now show a greater urgency for improvement, increased challenge to school leaders, and express their belief that they can effect the necessary improvements to the school’s leadership. Nevertheless, because impact has been limited since the last inspection, a further review of governance should be undertaken. – Governors completed an audit of the school’s safeguarding procedures supported by Hackney Learning Trust. They have now addressed areas of concern, ensuring policy and procedure are compliant with statutory requirements.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

 The quality of teaching is inadequate because expectations are too low.  Assessment information is not used well enough to meet the needs and interests of all pupils. Teachers’ application of the school’s approach to assessment without levels is inconsistent. Assessment information held by the school is not accurate; nor is it analysed precisely enough to determine if all pupils and groups of pupils are making the progress expected of them.  The quality and quantity of work seen in books varies greatly. Teachers are inconsistent in their expectations for presentation and in what pupils can achieve, particularly the most able.  The shared nature of teaching in the school has resulted in poorly displayed classrooms, with neither teacher taking responsibility to create a vibrant and inspiring place in which pupils can learn.  All teachers follow the school policy for lesson planning and mark work regularly. However, the precision

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

with which teachers comment on how pupils can improve their work is not consistent.  Teachers do not use questioning consistently enough to probe pupils’ thinking, to make them expand and explain their answers in more detail.  An external consultant has secured better teaching of reading at Key Stage 1, which is now beginning to impact positively on pupils’ outcomes. There remains greater variability in the teaching of reading at Key Stage 2.  All pupils are enthused about the installation of the new lending library in school and talk excitedly about their reading. In discussion with the inspector, a pupil remarked: ‘I love reading, the best place to read is in bed when all is quiet.’ However, not all pupils are keen to read different types of books from different authors.  The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters represent) has become more effective and this has led to more pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1. Pupils who read to

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

the inspector used their phonics knowledge well to pronounce unfamiliar words.  The teaching of mathematics is strongest in Year 2 and Year 6, where assessment information is used effectively to meet the needs of pupils. However, across the school, teachers do not use resources and apparatus consistently to support pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts.  While teachers ensure that all pupils access a range of mathematical activities, there is not enough emphasis on developing arithmetic fluency and guiding pupils to the most efficient methods for calculation.  Increasing opportunities are provided for pupils to write within both Kodesh and national curriculum sessions. This has supported improvements seen in pupils’ achievement. However, there are too few opportunities provided for pupils to write within meaningful contexts. For example, in a Year 6 English lesson pupils were completing diary entries relating to the playground tree which had been chopped down. All

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate

pupils were immersed in their writing and desperate for their teacher to offer advice as to how their pieces could be further improved.  Homework is completed regularly and supports the learning undertaken in class. A weekly record informs parents what needs to be done. When asked, both parents and pupils felt this was the right amount.

p.4

Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils have a limited understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. This is because there are too few and infrequent opportunities for pupils to study this area of the curriculum.  Pupils say that incidents of bullying are rare and are confident that staff will deal with them effectively should they occur. Nonetheless, their understanding of all forms of bullying, particularly cyber bullying, is limited.  Pupils say they feel very safe and secure that the adults entrusted with their care will look after them. This is evident in their confidence when talking to adults about their school.  Pupils are self-assured when talking about their learning. They expressed preferences between Kodesh and national curriculum lessons and gave opinions on suggestions for future learning. One pupil stated: ‘I’d like

p.5

Personal development and welfare

to learn about kings and queens and the history of London.’

p.5

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Although most pupils conduct themselves well, this is not consistent in all lessons and around school.  The approach to managing behaviour, ‘Stay on Green’, makes a positive contribution to the learning behaviours of pupils when it is used; but it is not consistently applied and records of behaviour incidents are not well maintained.  Scrutiny of their books indicates that pupils do not always try as hard as they could and take pride in their work.  Attendance is above average.  Pupils say they enjoy school and incidents of poor behaviour are rare.

p.5

Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 Inadequacies in curriculum provision mean that pupils are not adequately prepared for the next stage of their education. While there are relative strengths in aspects of English and mathematics, other curriculum areas are not taught in sufficient breadth or depth. Therefore, outcomes in these subjects are inadequate.  While there have been some improvements to published standards at the end of Year 2 and Year 6, there remains variability and inconsistency in the proportion of pupils reaching age-related expectations in other year groups. This is particularly so within Key Stage 2.  Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 in reading and writing have improved since the school was last inspected, and along with mathematics are now broadly in line with those seen nationally.  At the end of Key Stage 2, standards in mathematics have improved steadily over a three-year period, but standards in reading, writing and in spelling, grammar and punctuation remain below the national average.

p.5

Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

 The school’s progress information indicates that pupils in all year groups made at least expected progress within the last academic year. However, the most-able pupils do not consistently reach the standards they are able to. This is because the work prepared for them is not sufficiently demanding to make them think in depth about their learning and apply their skills effectively across a range of subjects.  Outcomes for pupils who speak English as an additional language are not routinely analysed by leaders; work seen in books suggests they are making at least the same progress as their peers.  There are too few disadvantaged pupils within the school to make any relevant statistical comparison. Work in books also suggests that these pupils are making progress at least in line with other pupils in the school.  Outcomes for pupils who have special educational needs or disability and lower attaining pupils are

p.5

Outcomes for pupils are inadequate

improving, particularly at Key Stage 1. A raft of additional support is in place to enable these pupils to reach their targets.

p.5

Early years provision requires improvement

 Children enter the early years with skills that are typical for their age. By the time they left Reception, the majority of children in 2015 made expected progress and reached a good level of development and were excited and ready for study in Year 1.  Not enough children make accelerated progress, because not all areas of learning are sufficiently well resourced to engage them in purposeful play. Similarly, the questions adults ask do not routinely extend and probe children’s thinking.  When teaching and resources are well matched to the needs and interests of the children, they can sustain concentration over a long time. For example, a group of children spent the entire session inputting instructions into floor robots, making them move along a track and back to their starting point.  Adults in the setting work hard to develop children’s physical, personal and social development and their communication, language and literacy, but the classroom environment offers limited stimulation to

p.6

Early years provision requires improvement

encourage children into the writing process.  The early years leader of the girls’ school is offering temporary leadership to the Reception class.  Children are happy and self-assured in their environment; this is evidenced by the confidence with which all children speak with adults.  Staff in the early years work hard to establish positive and rewarding relationships with families. This allows parents to be fully involved and able to contribute to their child’s learning journey.

p.6

School details

Unique reference number 138241 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 10009175

p.7

School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.7

School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 5–11 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 115 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Hindy Lew Headteacher Rabbi Shmuel Karaski Telephone number 020 88001044 Website www.lubavitchschool.com Email address admin@lubavitchschool.com Date of previous inspection 22–23 January 2014

p.7

Information about this school

 Lubavitch Boys’ Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It serves orthodox Jewish communities following the customs and traditions of the Hassidic Chabad Lubavitch movement across London and the Home Counties.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for extra funding through the pupil premium is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) or disability is above the national average, as is the proportion of pupils with an SEN statement or an education, health and care plan.  Hackney Learning Trust provides ongoing partnership support to the school.

p.7

Information about this school

 The school day is split into two: the morning consists of Kodesh lessons to develop pupils’ understanding of Jewish life and the afternoon is spent on teaching the national curriculum. The school finishes at 4.20pm, accommodating this approach to teaching.  The school is federated with Lubovitch Ruth Lunzer Girls’ Primary and Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School.  The headteacher was in post at the time of the last inspection. A temporary deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2015. The English subject leader has been in post since July 2015 and assumed the role of special educational needs coordinator from September 2015.

p.7

Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed pupils’ learning in 11 lessons; almost all of these were joint observations with the senior leaders of the school.  In addition, the inspector looked at examples of pupils’ work and listened to pupils read.  There were meetings with groups of pupils, the headteacher, senior leaders, and members of the governing body and representatives of the Hackney Learning Trust.  The inspector took account of 38 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and discussions with parents.  The inspector examined the school’s own information on pupils’ recent and current progress; the school’s evaluation of how well it is doing and its records of monitoring the quality of teaching; records relating to behaviour and attendance; and documents relating to safeguarding.

p.8

Inspection team

Diane Buckle, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

p.9

Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.9

Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.9

Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.9